Arthur Ransome's life of danger and intrigue

Russian beauty: Evgenia Shelepina. Tall, attractive and intelligent, Evgenia became the love of Arthur Ransome's life. This is the second in a series on the life of English children's writer Arthur Ransome and his Australian connection.  

In May 1913, English writer Arthur Ransome left England for Russia. This began the second stage in his life, one marked by adventure, danger and romance set against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution. It reads like a spy novel and in some ways it was.

On that first trip, Ransome stayed in St Petersburg for three months travelling and learning conversational Russian. He returned to Russia on visits in 1914 and 1915 before becoming the Moscow based correspondent for the Daily News in November 1915, a post he held for four years.

The Russian Empire was in turmoil, drained by war. The Tsar’s attempts to reform failed because of indecision and internal conflict, and in November 1917 the Bolsheviks seized power.

Ransome sought an interview with Leon Trotsky, effectively the number two in the Bolshevik hierarchy. There he met Evgenia Shelepina, Trotsky’s personal secretary.

A committed Bolshevist, Evgenia was very tall, attractive and intelligent. Restless, unhappy in his personal life, Ransome was immediately attracted. A relationship developed that would last the rest of their lives.

Ransome’s knowledge of Russia and its language, his connections with Evgenia and other members of the new Government, informed both his writing and the reports he seems to have provided to British intelligence.

I don’t think that Ransome was ever a spy in the conventional sense, he was too erratic for that, too supportive of the Bolshevik side. However, his reports do seem to have been valuable.

In 1919, Ransome brought Evgenia out of Russia to Reval in Latvia where Ransome was now based. It was a dangerous escape, one that left Ransome with a serious gastric illness, a problem that was to plague him all his life.

Based first in Reval and then Riga, Ransome was now the Russian correspondent for the Manchester Guardian. He and Evgenia wanted to marry, but that required a divorce from Ivy.

After increasingly bitter negotiations, Ransome and Ivy were finally divorced. On 8 May 1924, Arthur and Evgenia married at the British consulate in Reval.

In February 1925, Arthur and Evgenia returned to England, setting up home in the Lakes District. Ransome loved this area and it was convenient to the offices of the Manchester Guardian, still a major outlet for Ransome’s writing.

This move marked the start of the third phase in Ransome’s life. It is now time to introduce the New England connection in Ransome’s life, a connection that would influence his later writing.

 Note to readers: This post appeared as a column in the Armidale Express Extra on 22 January 2020. I am repeating the columns here with a lag because they are not all on line outside subscription. You can see all the Belshaw World and History Revisited/History Matters columns by clicking here for 2009, here for 2010, here for 2011, here for 2012, here for 2013, here for 2014, here for 2015,  here for 2016, here  2017, here 2018, here 2019, here 2020 

Genomic analyses inform on migration events during the peopling of Eurasia

Another paper that I missed out on was this 2016 Nature paper "Genomic analyses inform on migration events during the peopling of Eurasia" The abstract follows:

High-coverage whole-genome sequence studies have so far focused on a limited number1 of geographically restricted populations2,3,4,5, or been targeted at specific diseases, such as cancer6. Nevertheless, the availability of high-resolution genomic data has led to the development of new methodologies for inferring population history7,8,9 and refuelled the debate on the mutation rate in humans10. Here we present the Estonian Biocentre Human Genome Diversity Panel (EGDP), a dataset of 483 high-coverage human genomes from 148 populations worldwide, including 379 new genomes from 125 populations, which we group into diversity and selection sets. We analyse this dataset to refine estimates of continent-wide patterns of heterozygosity, long- and short-distance gene flow, archaic admixture, and changes in effective population size through time as well as for signals of positive or balancing selection. We find a genetic signature in present-day Papuans that suggests that at least 2% of their genome originates from an early and largely extinct expansion of anatomically modern humans (AMHs) out of Africa. Together with evidence from the western Asian fossil record11, and admixture between AMHs and Neanderthals predating the main Eurasian expansion12, our results contribute to the mounting evidence for the presence of AMHs out of Africa earlier than 75,000 years ago. 

Pagani, L., Lawson, D., Jagoda, E. et al. Genomic analyses inform on migration events during the peopling of Eurasia. Nature 538, 238–242 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature19792

The Moyjil site, south-west Victoria: possible hominin occupation c 120,000 years ago

This another of those articles that I missed, the results of a dig at Moyjil Port Ritchie at the entrance to the Hopkins River, Warnambool on Victoria's south western coast. The dig investigated a charcoal and burnt stone feature associated with a scattered midden. Dating indicates a date around 120,000 years ago with the evidence marginally supporting a cultural over natural origin.

The abstract follows:

Claims for a human presence in Australia beyond 60,000 years ago must have a strong evidence base associated with rigorous methodology and intense scrutiny. In this light we present excavation results for Charcoal and Burnt Stone Feature #1 (CBS1) located within coastal dune sediments at Moyjil (Point Ritchie), Warrnambool, that independent geomorphic and OSL dating indicates is of Last Interglacial age (~120,000 years ago). While on plausibility grounds the cultural status of a feature of such great antiquity in Australia is unlikely, a cultural origin for CBS1 is less easily dismissed if assessed with an age-independent methodology. A broad range of macroscale discrimination criteria has been used to assess whether CBS1 is either a cultural hearth or a natural feature such as a burnt tree stump. On balance, evidence marginally supports a cultural origin over a natural origin. However, the absence of associated stone artefacts and faunal remains and the presence of burnt root wood precludes definitive statements on the cultural status of the feature. Our case study is methodologically instructive in terms of the potential complexities and issues of equifinality involved in the archaeological identification of ancient hearths. 

McNiven Ian J. , Crouch Joe , Bowler Jim M. , Sherwood John E. , Dolby Nic , Dunn Julian E. Stanisic John (2018) The Moyjil site, south-west Victoria, Australia: excavation of a Last Interglacial charcoal and and burnt stone feature — is it a hearth?. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 130, 94-116. https://doi.org/10.1071/RS18008

Comment

The results attracted considerable interest at the time because they seemed to push back the date of Aboriginal occupation of the continent to perhaps 120,000 years. The abstract is cautious in its conclusions about cultural as opposed to natural origin.

As we get more dates from Asia, the possibility of earlier hominin occupation of Sahul becomes more plausible.  The issue that then arises is whether they are Aboriginal or an earlier hominin species such as the Denisovans, given the tension between earlier dates and some of the dates attached to Aboriginal occupation by genomic modelling.

First pages of a literary life

1913: Crowd gathered outside the court following the decision in the Lord Alfred Douglas libel case. Arthur, Ivy Ransome, left. This is the first in a new series on the life of English children's writer Arthur Ransome and his Australian connection.  

2020 begins with another New England story, this one about a famous English children’s author, a nineteenth century Australian squatter and prolific painter and a Walcha property with a most unusual name.

Our story will take us from English literary life in the first half of the twentieth century back though the Russian Revolution to the aftermath of the Oscar Wilde Affair. We then travel further back to Sydney Town of the1830s before moving forward following the story of a large English-Australian squatting family.

Arthur Mitchell Ransome was born in Leeds on 18 January 1884, the eldest child of Cyril Ransome and his wife Edith nee Boulton.

This was an academic, intellectual family. Cyril was a history don at Yorkshire College, later Leeds University, while Edith was a talented amateur painter, a love she inherited from her father, Edward. Father and daughter seem to have written to each other regularly, sharing their interest in painting.

Arthur seems to have been a bookish, somewhat withdrawn, child who did not get on well with his schoolmates. I think that he compensated by creating a vivid internal world, one that would appear later in his books.

In 1897, Cyril Ransome died from a bone infection that even a leg amputation had failed to stop.

The relationship between Arthur and his father was complicated. Cyril seems to have been very much the Victorian father, both withdrawn and demanding, sometimes harsh Arthur would regret all his life that his father’s death stopped him getting to know Cyril, when they might have talked as adults and helped Arthur understand.

Upon leaving Rugby in 1901, Arthur Ransome enrolled in science at the Yorkshire College. I have no idea why, for he had already decided to be a full time writer.

Less than a year after enrolling, Arthur obtained a job with a London publisher and began writing for literary magazines. This allowed him to make the jump into full time writing.

Ransome published his first book in 1904, a collection of essays This was followed by a stream of publications, none especially successful apart from Bohemia in London (1907).

In 1908, Ransome fell in love with Ivy Constance Walker. They married in March 1909. It would prove a disastrous marriage for both because Arthur could not give Ivy the love and attention she needed.

In 1913, Oscar Wilde’s lover, Lord Alfred Douglas sued Ransome for libel over a commissioned 1912 piece on Wilde that Ransome had written. Ransome won, bankrupting Douglas in the process.

Ivy stood by Ransome during the trial, indeed she seems to have enjoyed the attention, but Ransome was exhausted and wanted to escape. A few months after the trial, he left for Russia on an extended research and writing trip, starting a new stage in his life.

Note to readers: This post appeared as a column in the Armidale Express Extra on 15 January 2020. I am repeating the columns here with a lag because they are not all on line outside subscription. You can see all the Belshaw World and History Revisited/History Matters columns by clicking here for 2009, here for 2010, here for 2011, here for 2012, here for 2013, here for 2014, here for 2015,  here for 2016, here  2017, here 2018, here 2019, here 2020 

Local history groups hold keys to uncovering the past

Speedy Purchase, Quick Return: The small settlement of Kookabookra lay south east of Glen Innes, one of many now vanished country settlements.The records of the Kookabookra Court of Perry Sessions are just one of the records held at the New England Archives and Heritage Centre,

I hope that you had a happy Christmas. May the New Year be peaceful, successful, wet and fire free!

I published my first Express column in December 2009. Since then I have written 474 columns. This year, I hope to take you still deeper into the remarkable tapestry that is our history.

Last year, I wrote a short series on the cultural, social and economic importance of family, local and regional history. This post focuses on some of the historical resources available in Armidale. Later, I will deal with resources outside Armidale.

Armidale has a number of historical societies. The peak societies are the Armidale Family History Group and the Armidale and District Historical Society.

The Family History Group focuses on family history, but can provide broader information to provide an historical context. The Historical Society focuses on history, but can also provide information relevant to particular families. The two societies work closely together, with many common members.

Both maintain growing collections of historical material. Both have reading rooms open to the general public manned by volunteers who can provide advice on the topics you are interested in or direct you to other sources of information.

The Armidale and District Historical Society is located at 114 Faulkner Street, the old Dumaresq Shire Council Chambers. It’s open Monday to Friday, 10.00 to 16.00.

The Family History Group reading rooms in the Kentucky Street museum precinct at the Dangar Street end are open Monday 14.00 to 17.00, Wednesday 10.00 to 16.00, other times by appointment.

Just across the road from the Family History Group in the Newling library building lies the University of New England Archives & Heritage Centre, the jewel in Armidale’s historical resources crown.

The Centre has a large collection of primary and secondary materials relevant to New England’s history and is a great resource for students, locals and family and regional historians. The Centre is open Monday to Friday 9.00-17.00.

Down Kentucky Street from the Heritage Centre you will find the New England Regional Art Museum (open Tuesday-Sunday 10.00-16.00) and the Aboriginal Cultural Centre & Keeping Place (open Monday to Friday 9.00-16.00, Saturday 10.00-14.00).

Two other resources are the Armidale City Library (Rusden Street) and the Dixson Library at the University. Apart from its general material, the City Library has a small local reference section upstairs, while the Dixson is a major library that Includes a specialist collection covering New England.

This post provides just a taste of local resources. Later this year, we hope to release a full resource guide for use by students, teachers, locals and visitors.

Note to readers: This post appeared as a column in the Armidale Express Extra on 8 January 2020. I am repeating the columns here with a lag because they are not all on line outside subscription. You can see all the Belshaw World and History Revisited/History Matters columns by clicking here for 2009, here for 2010, here for 2011, here for 2012, here for 2013, here for 2014, here for 2015,  here for 2016, here  2017, here 2018, here 2019, here 2020 

Campaign beats loggers and saves Dorrigo National park

Dorrigo National Park today. What we have today is due to the activity of dedicated locals such as Ray Spinaze. This is the fourth and final in a short series on the early days of the Dorrigo National Park.

From the beginning, the trustees appointed to oversight the Dorrigo Nature Reserves faced a fundamental problem. They had responsibility, but no money.

The first small reserves had been created in 1901, the bigger Mountain Reserve in 1917. A first government grant of £5 was received in 1920. The next grant of £100 from unemployment relief funds did not come until 1933! It would be 1965 before there was enough money to employ the first ranger.

With the only income coming from the lease for grazing of a small portion of land, there was little that the trustees could do beyond some blackberry control and endeavouring to keep paths clear.

This created real governance problems as trustees lost heart, retired or died. Between 1940 and 1949 it appears that the Trust did not meet at all. Then came another of those energising events. 

There had been problems with illegal logging and shooting for some time.

In 1949, the Thora sawmill lodged an application to log the Park. As local member, Roy Vincent was able to block the application and get the Trust restructured, but in the absence of funding, the Trustees struggled.

In 1954, responsibility for the management of the Park was transferred to the Dorigo Shire Council, passing to the Bellingen Shire Council in 1957 following the forced merger of the Dorrigo and Bellingen Shires. A Management Committee was formed to oversight the Park in the place of the Trustees.

The merger of the two shires created bitter resentment on the Dorrigo Plateau Locals believed that they had little in common with the coast and that the merger would submerge their interests to their cost. This resentment turned into direct action when the Bellingen Shire Council recommended that logging be allowed in the Park.

Local solicitor Ray Spinaze led the Dorrigo response.

Born in 1914, Spinaze was a descendent of the Veneto (Italian) families who had been attracted to the South Pacific by the ill-fated dreams of the Marquis de Rays. When that failed, the survivors established New Italy between Byron Bay and Grafton, now a significant tourist destination.

Spinaze had been dux of Lismore High School and then trained as a solicitor. On the boat to Sydney for exams, much coastal travel was still done by steamer, he met Georgina Cochrane. The couple married in 1941 and then settled in Dorrigo where Spinaze had bought a practice.

Spinaze’s campaign blocked any attempt to log the Park. Because of the tensions between the Park management committee and Council, responsibility for the Park’s management was taken away from the Bellingen Shire Council and given back a newly reconstituted Trust.

The Park as we know it today had been born. 

Note to readers: This post appeared as a column in the Armidale Express Extra on 18 December 2019. I am repeating the columns here with a lag because they are not all on line outside subscription. You can see all the Belshaw World and History Revisited/History Matters columns by clicking here for 2009, here for 2010, here for 2011, here for 2012, here for 2013, here for 2014, here for 2015,  here for 2016, here  2017, here 2018, here 2019